When he spoke at his mother’s funeral two years ago, USD outfielder Chris McCready walked up to the podium with nothing prepared.

“I didn’t rehearse anything,” said McCready, who told those gathered that “we’re all going to deal with this differently, and it’s going to hurt. It’s going to be a lot of different emotions.

“It’s not going to be an easy journey, but if you don’t believe in angels, you should.”

And then McCready told a story about what had happened the night before.

With the Toreros trailing 10-9 with two outs in the ninth inning at Loyola Marymount, USD coach Rich Hill called on McCready to pinch hit for teammate Paul Kunst.

A wild game that had featured six lead changes — thanks in large part to a howling wind blowing out to right-center — was about to take a spectacular turn for the Toreros from a most unlikely source.

It was McCready’s first at-bat since his mother’s death eight days earlier. Susan McCready was 59 when she died of ovarian cancer.

Then a junior, McCready was batting .160 with only four hits — three singles and a double — during a season by then in its 50th game.

The left-handed hitter was quickly in an 0-2 hole, having swung late on a 96 mph first-pitch fastball from LMU closer Harrison Simon before watching a second fastball go by for a strike.

McCready took a moment to gather himself before the next pitch. He glanced at a bracelet on his right wrist that had belonged to his mother, took a deep breath and thought “I have nothing to lose right now.”

Simon came with another fastball. One too many, as it turned out.

“I caught the ball out front and it got out of there,” said McCready, whose first collegiate homer delivered an 11-10 victory. “The winds were blowing out so hard that it just nose dove right over the fence.

“I saw it go out. That’s when I blanked out. It wasn’t even emotional. I was so fired up, I didn’t even know what happened. I just thought, ‘Awesome. I’ll take it.’ ”

McCready pointed to the sky as he touched the plate, then was mobbed by his Toreros teammates.

“I pointed up to my mom,” McCready said. “I was like, ‘Hey, I’m here. I’m listening. You’re right here with me. That was probably all you because it wasn’t me.”

Hill said “it was a surreal type of game. It all lined up for him to be the hero, so much so that after the game I went and bought a book called “The Afterlife of Billy Fingers.” It’s a book about the afterlife and surreal moments that happen that are just unexplainable, and that was one of them.”

McCready will be in the outfield for USD (25-15) on Tuesday night at Fowler Park when the Toreros play host to crosstown rival San Diego State (24-17).

He is the elder statesman now — “which my teammates remind me of every day,” he said — with a perspective shaped by off-the-field tragedy, on-the-field struggles but also the work ethic and perseverance to succeed.

McCready’s college career began at Long Beach State, where he was discouraged from returning after his freshman year. He transferred to USD after a year at College of the Canyons.

He was used mostly as a pinch hitter his first year at USD in 2017. A torn labrum that required surgery and several months of rehab wiped out the 2018 season.

McCready redshirted last year with an eye on making the most of this season. Doubts remained after he struggled in fall ball, but he focused on putting the team ahead of himself.

Chris McCready, with parents Mark and Susan McCready, during an event four years ago at San Francisco's AT&T Park.

Courtesy Chris McCready

“A lot of the tough things I’ve gone through the past few years have helped me to understand that this is just a game,” McCready said. “Life is going to throw things at you, and it’s how you respond and what your attitude is.

“The things that I committed to this year were to be the best person and teammate that I could be, regardless of how things were going for me, and to just try every day to improve at something.”

McCready started the season’s first two games, then played sparingly over the next month. He did not sit and sulk.

“My goal the first month when I wasn’t playing was to just keep working hard and be there for my teammates,” he said. “My main focus was to enjoy every part of this year, for better or worse, to really help the young guys to grow up quickly. It took me four and half years to figure it out, and I didn’t want that to happen to them.”

McCready said he didn’t feel completely recovered from the labrum injury until midseason. He points to a game at Gonzaga when he collected four hits that included a grand slam.

Four days later, McCready hit another grand slam in a home win over BYU. He finished the game with seven RBIs, one shy of the school record.

The game highlighted a 21-for-45 stretch in which McCready boosted his batting average to .467. He has cooled in recent weeks, but is still among the team leaders with a .325 batting average, three homers and 23 RBIs.

“He’s shown the heart, the attitude and the makeup for wanting to win more than focusing just on himself,” USD assistant coach Brock Ungricht said. “He really, really wants to see other people succeed, as well as himself.

“I’m a firm believer in what goes around, comes around. He’s been all about the team, all about the dugout, pulling for other guys when he wasn’t playing, ... I feel like the game really rewards people who do that.”